Crimson Moon Child
by SerpentTongueSorceror
Summary: A child, a man, an entity, a hybrid, born to blood, under the moon's caress. A slave to fate, to rule amongst lords. But is the price of ascension a fair trade?
1. Chapter 1

A.N. Well people, let's be honest, I could have and should have done better on my first foray into writing fan fiction. Hopefully, my second attempt can overcome it's shortcomings and cover my vision. I'm also going to pace myself better, because the chapter a day I tried before obviously failed when I just stopped updating. Remember readers, constructive criticism in reviews remind me that what I create can be flawed, exposes those flaws, and allows me to strengthen weak points. Help me give you a better read

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated. But Michael and Matthew were my ideas.

Crimson Moon Child

Summary: _A child, a man, an entity, a hybrid, born to blood, under the moon's caress. A slave to fate, to rule amongst lords. _But is the price of ascension a fair trade?

A tall, imposing man wearing a cape stood against the light of the moon, appearing as a silhouette seemingly absorbing any surrounding light. Suddenly, he smirked and threw off his cape, lifting up a gleaming great sword into the air with one hand as two great beasts lunged forward at unrealistic velocity toward the man who radiated power. The man tapped his foot against the floor and disappeared leaving kicked up leaves where he once was. When he reappeared, his sword was between the teeth of one of the beasts and he had one hand on the handle, using the other to push against the monster. He disappeared again and blood gushed from a giant slash across the chest of the creature the man was fighting. The second one was slain easily, beheaded as it ran to attack the man.

A second figure appeared, this figure being built slightly shorter then his friend but stocky, also emanating a malevolent energy. "Was that necessary? What are you even doing here? I know those 2 minor creatures couldn't have drawn your attention so far from your home, I know your policies well, you wouldn't strike the weak." The first man searched with hawk like eyes, but what he searched for was a complete mystery. Then he walked toward a point to which he was focused, seemingly staring through the trees in that spot.

The second figure shook his head and walked quickly to keep up with the tedious pace set by his companion. "Are you even list-" The first figure stuck out his hand with his index finger up, indicating his desire for silence as he searched for what seemed to be nothing.

"What are you even looking for in a pla--," this time he was cut off by the forearm pressed threateningly across his throat, scared into petrification by the menacing crimson eyes right in front of his, and the promise of pain carried in them for any more discrepancies in the night's eerie silence. The taller man continued to stalk the land with his graceful but hurried gait, until he heard a scream. He turned around and surprised his colleague with the intensity in his eyes, running off in that direction with beyond inhuman speed. His wider friend sighed and followed him dutifully.

"Enough is enough Michael, what could possibly be so important that you're running this fast?" Michael slowed and pointed to his destination, continuing to that point with his friend at his heels. There, they saw another werewolf lying dead on the ground, but that wasn't the surprise, no, what Michael was going to was the skinny, bloody young boy with his leg between the teeth of the beast.

Michael examined the boy's wounds, cursing under his breath, while the prepubescent boy groaned in agony and flinched as the teeth were extracted, but it appeared that Michael was too late, as the boy was paling and loosing consciousness from the severe blood loss."Shit!" Michael cursed, and regretfully put his face down close to the child.

Michael's friend looked around wildly, wondering what he was doing, and when he saw Michael get closer, he opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted, "quiet Matthew, this is quite necessary." Matthew then quieted himself. Michael got back up with 2 exposed teeth, covered in blood.

Michael sighed and said, "Now, I will answer you Michael. This child is the child of prophecy, as you know, his continued existence is vital. As you saw, he was bitten by a werewolf and was dying. I gave him just enough of vampire blood to turn him in order to combat the werewolf disease. This should enable him to survive, or, supremely unlikely, the 2 could fuse and create a super being in Mr. Potter here. Now come, we must prepare."

Matthew's jaw dropped at the series of increasingly shocking statements, finally shaking his head and following after Michael. There's nothing to worry about, he thought, there's no way the werewolf and vampire curses could go without fighting each other. Ridding himself of such a ridiculous notion, he put his mind on getting back home, and the companions disappeared from sight into the night, leaving behind the full moon, and a growing child who's life was about to be changed. Whether for the better or worse, only time could tell. Fluttering emerald eyes searched their surroundings before falling back into the comfortable abyss of darkness that is unconsciousness.

* * *

A 13 year old Harry Potter woke up from a very strange dream, unsure what to make of it. The day before he had another dream with such startling realism, but it seemed to be more in the present, as if it was happening just as he was watching it, but this day's dream, it felt more like the past, something that happened a while ago. He had hoped that with the fiasco after the Quidditch World Cup the day before that his daily dose of disturbance may have been The green eyed boy hero looked around Ron's room at the Burrow, searching for anything that might dispute the realism of the dream he just witnessed, any little thing, that would lend credence to the disbelief he felt. Despite the comfort of his second home (Hogwarts being his first), Harry could feel the burn of his calf where the werewolf struck, the cold, deathly breath on his neck, and the piercing agony where those fangs penetrated his skin, replacing his quickly fading life with pure, undiluted, living cold that he could now feel running through his veins.

He could have attributed the pain in his calf and neck to an uncomfortable sleeping position, the feeling of breathing to the light breeze coming from the window. He could even call the use of his surname a coincidence, or he could be dreaming about another member of his family.

But despite his misgivings, despite what he didn't to believe, and despite all the excuses he could have fabricated, there was one indisputable factor in his dream, Harry thought to himself, expression pensive...

Those eyes... although he wanted to forget the dream, his curiosity betrayed him...

They are mine.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Well, hopefully, my introduction to the world of Crimson Moon Child exceeded expectations. If not, well then hopefully my writing will improve as the story progresses.

While I'm on the subject of the story, I've been having a bit of a problem. I do want a powerful Harry, and while what I've given him already seems sufficient, he's going to need more to beat a feared dark lord. Soo, while I already do have a lot of ideas, I'd like to know, what would you like in the savior of the wizarding world? What kind of powers should he obtain, or what ways should he train himself to get more powerful? Your input is valued and ideas are appreciated.

Chapter 1: Rebirth Part 1

Harry's time at the Burrow was spent joyfully frolicking with the rambunctious Weasleys. Playing Quidditch, swimming in a nearby lake, and corresponding with Sirius, Harry found his mental and physical fitness improving at a rapid rate. Also, he was provided with a welcome distraction from the unpleasantness after the World Cup. Receiving 3 large meals a day, Harry found himself gaining the voracious appetite that teenagers were known for, which Mrs. Weasley was only too happy to feed. From the exercise of keeping up with the younger Weasleys and the persistent mothering of the Weasley matriarch, Harry found himself going through some physical changes that left him different from the malnourished young lad fresh from the Dursleys. Also, spending the holiday with the family of his best friend gave him a sense of contentment that was irreplaceable.

One day during the summer, after a particularly exhausting game of quidditch, where Harry and Ginny played chasers with Ron as keeper for both of them and Hermione as a spectator, the dinner conversation was particularly interesting. Percy, having recently gotten a job at the ministry which kept him very occupied, mentioned a certain you-know-what that had the 4 of their ears perked in interest.

"C'mon Perce, I won't tell anyone, what's happening at Hogwarts?" Ron asked after Percy adamantly refused to go into more detail about some mysterious event that the ministry was excited about. Percy's ears reddened at the implication that he would let any more details of 'classified ministry happenings' slip to anyone. Still, behind his stoic facade, Percy's excitement was easily seen. "Ronald, if I have told you once, I've told you plenty of times, with a job comes responsibility, and the ministry has seen fit to endow me with such information under the condition that I remain responsible for maintaining its secrecy," Percy said, gathering his breath for what was sure to be a long winded lecture that not even Hermione looked forward to.

Harry interrupted what was sure to be a seemingly unending rant, both hoping to glean information on what would be happening and to diffuse what could potentially leave dinner and people's faces uncomfortably close. "But Percy, trouble has been following me around the wizarding world since I came here. I just want to make sure I can keep myself out of it, you've been there yourself, Murphy's Law had to be edited to take my name out of it."

"Potter, you and your trouble making is not the problem of the ministry. If you can get yourself into these problems then you better know how to get out of them!" spat Percy angrily.  
Meanwhile, Mr. Weasley rubbed the bridge of his nose while his wife rubbed his back. "That's enough boys. Percy, you went to school with Harry and you know perfectly well he couldn't avoid his... situations. Unless you're proposing that Harry enjoys almost dying. Harry, you should know that keeping ministry secrets is part of Percy's job, whether it's something vital to our society or something you will enjoy like this. Don't worry, I have no doubts that your largest roll will be as a spectator, and that shouldn't be very life threatening, right?"

Percy looked at Harry with a superior look on his face, while Harry had his sheepish expression directed at Mr. Weasley. Ron scowled at Percy.

The rest of the summer passed with more fun and games, pushing back, but never quite ridding our young heroes in training of the madness after the World Cup, or the allegedly enjoyable events arranged by the ministry that would occur at Hogwarts. Although Harry and Ron did try to attain more information from Percy and Mr. Weasley, they ended up boarding the Hogwarts Express knowing little more than the average Hogwarts student, meaning they knew something was happening, but that was the extent of their knowledge.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were managing to have a nice train ride when Draco Malfoy, Harry's self proclaimed (but never confirmed) rival, made his habitual visit to their compartment.

"So, Potty, Weasel, fancy entering?" asked Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle making constipated faces that were probably meant to be threatening behind him. As had happened every year, Malfoy had managed to astound them with the ability to grow even more astronomically arrogant than the year before, and his body guards had grown even larger and stupider.

Ron glared and with his usual eloquence, he responded, "What the bloody hell are you on about Malfoy?" Harry pulled Ron, who had unconsciously stood when Malfoy entered, back down to his seat. He then returned Malfoy's sneer with equal vigor and said, "Malfoy, a pleasure as always. You're making as much sense as your intellect allows, so if you wouldn't mind clarifying for those of us with a brain?"

Ron and Malfoy reacted quite similarly, staring at Harry in shock, while Hermione gazed at Harry calculatingly. 'Definitely food for thought,' thought Hermione, reevaluating her best friend's not completely unforeseen attitude.

Malfoy recovered in a much more timely manner than Ron and responded, "Would you look at that, Potter's grown some baby fangs now has he? It seems the wizarding world's outgrown its need of a 'hero'," as he sneered at the thought of Harry as a hero, "so boy wonder here needs to learn from real society," his perpetual sneer now directed at Ron and Hermione.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" asked Ron, his words enveloped in menace. Malfoy laughed at the threat that he obviously didn't take seriously even with Ron towering over him.

Hermione averted her eyes from the book she pulled out when no one was paying attention and looked around their compartment with a bored expression on her face. "And this is a perfect example of how immature boys can be. 'My power ranger is bigger than yours, fight me.' I'm tired of trying to mediate, just grow up you little boys," she said and although she never raised her voice, it was so out of character for Hermione to be so confrontational in their meetings with Malfoy that the rest of the compartment fell silent. Well, with the exception of Harry who sniggered at the unintended double entendre. Hermione scoffed and threw her book at Harry, who ducked, breaking every one else out of their stupor.

Malfoy snapped his fingers and Crabbe and Goyle preceded him out of the compartment. He left murmuring to himself, "Power rangers?? Mudbloods are strange..." shaking his head.

The students arrived at the castle without further incident, the new students were sorted and dinner was consumed turning the student's attention to their dormitories, or more precisely, the four poster beds waiting for them in those dormitories. All that changed when Dumbledore dropped the news that quidditch was canceled for the year, leaving their former sleepy selves on hold while they revolted. After the headmaster regained the student's attention, he dropped another proverbial bomb. The Triwizard tournament returned to Hogwarts.

The Triwizard tournament was between the 3 most prominent magical schools in Europe, Hogwarts, naturally, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. Three champions, one chosen from the student body of each school by an impartial judge, would then compete in three tasks that would test their bravery, cunning, resourcefulness and overall magical prowess. The champion would win the Triwizard cup, a huge honor, and 1000 galleons prize money. The problem was that traditionally, in order to test the worthiness of the champions, the tasks must be perilous. This lead to a large death toll which was in turn, the reason that the tournament was outlawed. It was held by each school in turns. The revival of the Triwizard tournament was huge, beyond a physical sense.

As a side note, Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody is Hogwarts' new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

But isn't it said, "May you live in interesting times"? That statement has never been more accurate...


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Before I begin this chapter, I'd like to point out that I will not be going through the entire 4th year, just the significant parts, because my part of the story begins in 5th year, although some changes in 4th year will happen. Also, there's 3 parts to the Rebirth segment.  
I'd like to apologize for the incredible break between chapters, I've been rather busy. Life throws obstacles at all of us and I've just been really busy lately. I'd like to try and update regularly again, don't worry, I am not abandoning.

Chapter 2: Rebirth Part 2

As Harry's 4th year progressed, he overcame challenges that seemed insurmountable at first. At the announcement of the tournament, although there was an age line, Harry felt an almost tangible sense of danger in the air. This mysterious feeling would do well not to be ignored through this year of great change...

As before, Harry's physical health was becoming better than the 14 year old had ever seen on himself. After years of malnourishment and difficult manual labor that comprised his responsibilities at the Dursley's, Harry had gained muscle on a frame much to small to support the results of his unintentional hard work. This, and mental abuse also from the Dursleys, resulted in the defeated slouch Harry consistently carried himself with. Hogwarts and Mrs. Weasley's cooking had helped him in putting on some weight so that he wasn't so unhealthy but still, Harry was pretty scrawny. If he was well fed for the first 11 years of his life, he could have gained a proud, strong and athletic build. It seemed Harry would never get over the horror of the Dursleys, even past the initial years crucial to his growth as the lack of nutrition had stunted his growth.

Yet where all else failed, the past summer at the Burrow seemed to prevail. Harry Potter was now physically fit. Where before he was extremely thin with his ribs somewhat showing and a sick look on slightly emaciated, yet aristocratic face, now the 14 year old stood neck to neck with his male classmates and put on enough weight to not appear frail and take any fear of a strong wind blowing him away. Where before Harry would have weighed in with the smaller girls in his year, he now was only slightly below average in weight and reached average height. His once unmanageable Potter hair was now still jet black but now long (the subject of much ire with Mrs. Weasley) and straight, falling to his shoulders with red highlights that were only seen when hit directly by the light. Although one thing he couldn't seem to change despite all his time playing quidditch in the sun was his very light skin, a mere 4 on the von Luschan scale. All in all, his physical changes could be summed up by a statement made by the female voice in the magical mirror in the bathroom a couple of months into the school year, "Not bad kid. Not bad at all. And you finally did something to the hair, good job."

Beyond the new look, his fourth year brought about a new Harry behavior wise as well. Earlier in his school career, Harry was reserved and quiet and spent his time playing exploding snap, wizard chess or other games with his best friend Ron Weasley or was nagged about studying by Hermione. Now, while he still spent time with his two best friends and was still reserved and quiet, he also made conversation with other students in his classes, in other houses, and in between classes. He also took to studying on his own and reading books on different branches of magic at all times. Harry Potter was now always seen around Hogwarts greeting a variety of students he had gotten to know after having become a more sociable person with an open book in one hand and his other carrying his bag.

The arrival of the two rival schools for the tournament, Beauxbaton and Durmstrang, garnered much interest in the inhabitants of Hogwarts. The Beauxbaton delegation arrived with a half giant headmistress, Madame Maxime, and a partial veela within their student body named Fleur Delacour. Durmstrang, not to be outdone, arrived with their ex death eater headmaster Igor Karakoff and celebrity quidditch player student Viktor Krum. Hogwarts' own celebrities Professor Dumbledore and Harry "the boy who lived" Potter himself were nothing but polite, and in Harry's case vaguely disinterested, so any outstanding attention quickly decreased to polite curiosity amongst the students. The Goblet of Fire was also brought out now that the foreign competitors arrived at Hogwarts.

After the failed attempts to defeat Dumbledore's age line by Fred and George Weasley, where they ended up growing identical Dumbledore-esque beards, students were discouraged from further tries. The candidates for champions from each school entered their names for a chance at the money and glory from defeating the other champions. From Hogwarts, memorable entries were Cedric Diggory of hufflepuff and griffindor's Angelina Johnson. Durmstrang and Beauxbaton's favorites were Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour respectively.

The triwizard champions were none other than Fleur representing Beauxbatons, Viktor Krum representing Durmstrang, hufflepuff's Cedric Diggory for Hogwarts, and Harry Potter for Hogwarts as well. A fourth contestant in the triwizard tournament threw everyone off balance, especially one so young and famous. Needless to say, Harry was quite upset about being subject to a magically binding contract that he never signed up for, not that others saw it that way. The adults assumed he wanted attention and the students were split between the gryffindors proud that one of their own managed to get in, the hufflepuffs angry that Harry Potter was gaining more fame by stealing theirs, and the slytherins ready to stir up trouble for the gryffindor golden boy regardless of how he got in the tournament. Except for Ron Weasley, he didn't subscribe to any of those accusatory beliefs. In fact, unlike the rest of gryffindor, he wasn't proud of Harry for doing something he wasn't allowed to do, and didn't do, Ron spent his time being jealous of his innocent best friend for getting into the tournament without finding a way for Ron to get in too.

The first task for the triwizard tournament, Harry was told, was to remain a mystery in order to test the champions' level-headedness and improvisation skills. With his new motivation of a potentially lethal mystery challenge and new found alone time with Hogwarts' resident book worm, Harry found it was prudent to begin training his magical skills that were woefully neglected in favor of wizard's chess and quidditch for the earlier years of his education.

And train he did. Harry took to new magic like a fish to water and absorbed spells of any subject with the urgency of a starved flower surrounded by sunlight. While training, he read several excerpts from magical theory books that Hermione suggested for him, continuing his new habit of carrying a book at all times, that expanded his understanding of magic which helped him more easily learn the trickier spells in his arsenal.

The change in Harry Potter brought about by his unfortunate circumstances did not go unnoticed by the staff. In fact, his new proficiency in his wand wielding classes, such as transfiguration, charms, and defense against the dark arts, was a topic of much discussion at faculty meetings. But no one knew the true depths of the young savior's training.

After reflecting on his decent progress, Harry decided he wasn't quite on the other champions' level and was dissatisfied with his education. After contemplating in private, he was losing hope on ever winning the tournament he was forced into, but he couldn't give up. Harry Potter was no push over and was going to prove to the world how much more than a name he was with the triwizard tournament and show whoever entered him against his will to never again underestimate the boy-who-lived. While he was plotting how to make his training more efficient, Dobby appeared to his 'Harry Potter sir' and a few decisions were made that night.

For one, Dobby knew of a room where Harry had unlimited resources to learn and better himself, where in terms of progression, the sky was the limit. Among the select few who had discovered this room, it was known as the Room of Requirement, or the Come-And-Go Room. The room could, within reason, produce anything that suits your requirements, but you couldn't remove it from the room. Here would take place the training that not even Hermione, his training partner, was to know about. Every night after curfew, Harry would sneak there and practice spells and duel against opponents of various skill levels provided by the room.

Harry trained on, both with Hermione and in the room of requirement, and the first task came and went. The day before the first task, Ron decided to tell Harry what he would be facing in the hopes that it was sufficient apology, but although Harry accepted it, things never got to be the same. Ron was mainly found in the company of their room mates Seamus and Dean, and Harry could be seen walking the halls or in an empty classroom, walking to class or training with Hermione.

The first task was to get passed a nesting mother dragon in order to retrieve a golden egg. Harry excelled in this task, tying for first with Cedric, neither being injured. Fleur was burned when she attempted to use a magical suggestion to distract the dragon with another task, which unfortunately didn't hold once the dragon saw what Fleur was attempting to steal. Viktor went for the conjunctivus to the eye approach used by most dragon handlers and immediately proving why it took whole teams of them to take a dragon down this way. The dragon trashed angrily, stomped on her eggs and swiped her tail directly at Viktor, who received a large gash on his arm. Still, he continued through the pain and collected his egg.

Cedric distracted the dragon with 3 transfigured horses and did a flame freezing charm on himself before going to collect his egg, which worked seamlessly. Harry, on the other hand, managed to do the only successful attempt at a show of force. When Harry walked in the stadium, eyes blazing with a calm stride, the Hungarian Horntail immediately went on the offense and shot a fierce stream of white hot flames at him. The crowd gasped as Harry drew his wand as quick as a professional duelist and merely crossed his arms while staring at the incoming fire. The dragon fire engulfed Harry and seemingly swallowed him and when the dragon was satisfied with her work, she let up on the flames to see the smoldering remains of the threat to her children...

...Only to find a perfectly untouched Harry Potter with his eyes glowing, still the picture of calm, and a shield of pure magic surrounding him. The emerald green shield looked almost solid and although nothing around it was moving, on the inside, Harry's hair and robes whipped in a wind completely unique to him. Finally, his arms moved out of their crossed position as he flicked his wand and the shield broke like glass with all the shards headed towards the dragon. Surprisingly, the amazingly magic resistant armor-like hide of the dragon was penetrated by these pieces. Harry then walked up to the dragon, looking her in the eyes the whole time, and stopped to put his wand in front of him. His face finally showed a hint of discomfort as raw magic rushed out of him in spades in an amazing emerald aura engulfing Harry and the dragon. The dragon looked to be struggling to stand or breathe, as if the gravity in the area was increased dramatically by magic, before finally collapsing with her head at Harry's feet. That was when he finally let up, continuing his staring contest with the enormous, formidable creature at his feet. He relaxed his wand and the dragon began to stand again, causing Harry to quickly put his wand at the ready again. The dragon reared her head back, and surprised the whole audience when she did the dragon approximation of a bow of subservience.

Harry's surprise showed for all of an instant before he patted the dragon's head and he gracefully walked to the golden egg he was meant to collect, then quickly made his exit, with his wand now back in a holster no one initially noticed on his forearm. Just as he made it to the door, a wave of sweltering heat struck the entire crowd as the dragon spat out flames, which, rather than flames, looked like extremely hot magic pouring out of the dragon's mouth. Just as the powerful magical flames was nearing his back, Harry turned quickly and snapped his fingers loud enough to be heard over the roar of the magic fire and the worried gasps of the crowd and the entire stream dissipated like a match held to a high powered hose. Although almost no one noticed, at this moment, Harry's hair flashed to a shade of red that put the Weasleys to shame. He walked out of the stadium, head held high, the graceful stroll of a satisfied predator with his hair still red but darkening quickly to a black that seemingly absorbed the darkness, without even his recently acquired natural highlights, which made a harsh contrast to his pale skin.

He had reached the open flap of the medical tent just as Fleur Delacour was leaving, and they bumped into each other lightly. The normally poised and graceful partial veela then stared at Harry as though she had never seen him before, and Harry's avada kadavra eyes bore deeply into hers as though burning holes in her head. Beautiful, yet deadly, and she couldn't look away. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, depending on how you look at it, Harry went from calm, powerful and collected, to a perfect depiction of exhaustion as he collapsed straight into Fleur.

Needless to say, the first task led to much speculation about our hero in the making. The gryffindors had an extremely warm welcome ready for their 4th year celebrity in the common room, the strength he exhibited had renewed much hero worship. The slytherins simply didn't care because the Potter boy lived and their interest faded in the tournament when that was clear. The hufflepuffs let their resentment fade and openly admired the amount of work that had to go into such a growth in magical ability. The ravenclaws acknowledged Potter's power, but were once again unconcerned by the proceedings. This, of course, was beyond the overall feeling of paranoia that came naturally in the human race of having someone so powerful so close to them.

By the time of the second task, a number of expected events came to pass. Firstly, Ron tried (and failed miserably) to regain Harry's friendship. Harry wasn't mean to him, but the lack of warmth or enthusiasm in any conversation held with Ron made it perfectly clear that he was not interested in any kind of apology from Ron. After a week of trying, Ron respected Harry's choice and left him alone. Second, Harry found himself needing to escape people a lot more often so he took to carrying around the marauder's map to avoid crowds that were too large. He also rarely stopped for conversation anymore when he was seen by people, instead choosing to leave after a short hello. It was after a dinner that he took to leaving early in order to avoid crowds that he ran into Fleur Delacour doing the same thing he was doing. She wondered how such a young student could be powerful enough to defeat a dragon and why no one else in the castle had enough sense to question it. Harry decided to trust the french blonde to an extent and show her the room of requirement, but didn't explain the function, letting her believe that he personally charmed the room to only appear when he walked across it. While in the room, Harry showed her many of the books he learned from and some of the high powered spells he could pull off. This led to a pleasant friendship where Fleur would occasionally come with Harry to train.

Another thing that happened before the second task was the Yule Ball, where Harry once again transcended expectations and arrived with slytherin beauty Daphne Greengrass. After the Yule Ball found Ron and Hermione arguing about something or the other, but Harry couldn't be bothered by it given the rather important task of surviving a tournament made for wizards and witches with 3 years more magical education.

Of course, going to the Yule Ball with the beautiful slytherin provoked rumors, but they were ignored in favor of more training, which Harry wouldn't let himself admit that he enjoyed. It felt good to test his strength then stretch his already rather formidable power further and feel himself grow.

After such a display of magical talent exhibited in the first task, there were great expectations for an even better show for the second task. Harry's heroic tendencies were well known in Hogwarts and were quickly becoming known to the foreign students, who found themselves listening to tales of Harry Potter's deeds with renewed interest. Harry didn't disappoint and displayed his talent to the crowd but not at all in a way they expected.

For the second task, champions were supposed to find someone special to them in the depths of Hogwarts lake. As soon as the task started, Harry quickly moved into action, whipping out his wand and...

… conjuring a comfortable seat and a cold can of soda. While the rest of the champions traversed to the treacherous town of merpeople, Harry simply relaxed, sipping his soda. When he was done, he stood and the can burst into flames in his hand before the flames and can disappeared leaving his hand unscathed. Harry held his wand at the ready and the crowd held their collective breaths.

He finally casted a summoning charm at the lake, "Accio Daphne" then quickly cast a full body bubble charm. The crowd frowned, confused as to what would make the favored champion cast such an odd combination of charms.

Just as the Potter supporters began to lose faith, Harry was seemingly pulled into the lake at high velocity causing a huge splash that wet the people in the front row seat (Colin Creevy was unbearable for weeks). Mere moments after he was pulled in, Harry burst out of the water on a broomstick completely dry, an equally dry Daphne holding on to his waist from behind him on the broom.

Before the audience could properly celebrate Harry's triumph, Fleur Delacour burst out of the water with only a wand in her hand, choking and sputtering on the ground. Harry looked back at Daphne as if asking for permission and when she rolled her eyes, he let her off on the ground before hurrying over to Fleur. After a short conversation, Harry looked over to the judge's table at Dumbledore with blazing green eyes as if to say 'this isn't over.'

Before anyone could process what just happened, Harry flew back into the water on his broom. Time passed, Krum and Diggory both emerged, and it seemed Harry wouldn't be coming back up from the water. Just as Dumbledore himself was about to dive into the water, the ground began to shake and the water of the lake split, leaving a strip of ground visible. Water appeared right in front of the stands in the shape of a staircase forming one stair at a time as Harry Potter appeared carrying a small blonde girl up the stairs with 3 bodies of mermen floating behind him. As he reached the top of the stairs, he gave Dumbledore one last scathing look before walking over to Fleur and going onto his knees to lay her little sister next to her. Harry gave her a slight smile and said, "We've gotta stop meeting like this." Before Fleur could contemplate what he said, he collapsed onto her lap.

The third and final task of the triwizard tournament came about with frightening promptness and certainty. The champions found themselves in a giant maze filled with nightmarish creatures that even Hagrid had trouble handling. Harry went through the maze at a steady but exhausting pace so naturally, he was relieved when he found himself in front of the triwizard cup. Both he and Cedric reached the cup at the same time so they decided to accept tying with each other and grabbed it at the same time. They grinned at each other until they felt themselves being pulled away by a portkey.

They landed in a graveyard and spotted Wormtail with a disfigured baby and a bone held in one arm and his wand held in the other. "Kill the spare!" called the baby Voldemort, prompting Wormtail to send a killing curse at Diggory. Diggory dived out of the way, proving he wasn't a triwizard champion for nothing, already having a shield in place when he landed. Harry quickly attacked Wormtail, who already wasn't a spectacular dueler, and hindered by what he carried he was strictly on the defensive, backing away until he tripped and landed in a cauldron of hot liquid. He died before he even got the chance to scream.

Harry stepped forward to examine the cauldron and as soon as he got close enough, a short arm reached out with a blade and cut him across his arm. His blood splashed into the cauldron as he staggered back in surprise.

He quickly cast healing charms as Voldemort shrieked loudly. The cauldron began bubbling and Harry started to shoot spells at it, hoping to disturb whatever seemed to be going in Voldemort's favor. Voldemort merely cackled as Harry's spells were absorbed by invisible wards and the cauldron frothed over, gas coming out of it, quickly obscuring the air.

A figure stepped out of the cauldron as the gas cleared. Serpentine slits for a nose, pale skin and red eyes were the most striking features of this new incarnation of Voldemort. He was inhumanly thin but still seemed to scream inhuman strength. He wore a black cloak that seemed to envelop all light surrounding it. With a long 13 inch wand, this was a figure of nightmares.

Words were exchanged and shortly after so were spells. Voldemort seemed to favor a purple spell which seemed to be wrapped in a malevolent energy, where Harry remained on the defensive. He used diversionary tactics such as creating clones of himself to divert attention from his true self, and summoning close by objects to take the impact of Voldemort's undoubtedly vicious curses, while occasionally sending in an offensive spell or sending the debris of shattered rocks at the Dark Lord. But the Dark Lord was no slouch at defending himself, simultaneously casting physical and magical shields while somehow retaining his relentless assault on the severely outmatched Harry Potter.

Cedric, not to be forgotten, was transfiguring objects into animals from his hiding spot and sending them to attack Voldemort. Voldemort had caught on to Cedric's existence and ferociously attacked wherever he saw him but kept hitting illusions. Eventually, a frustrated Voldemort let out an angry wave of raw magic that slammed Harry and Cedric through a pair of tombstones and straight into a second pair.

Now, not to say they weren't severely injured before, but now Harry and Cedric were almost completely unable to fight. Cedric broke his right arm although luckily he was a lefty, and Harry had broken his right leg from a nasty bone breaking hex that left his bone sticking out of his leg and dislocated his right shoulder from the impact of the tombstones.

Voldemort raised his hand into the air, utilizing wandless magic to levitate the teenagers, and raised his wand to deliver the finishing blow. Harry struggled to raise his wand, although luck had been lost on him and he was a righty, and shouted, "Gladius," as Voldemort screamed, "Avada Kadavra."

The spells met half way to the intended targets and launched a phenomenon known as Priori Incantantum. A cage appeared surrounding the combatants with a line of magic connecting Harry and Voldemort's wands. Many victims of the Dark Lord's reign of terror, including Harry's parents, appeared as transparent almost-ghosts giving Harry and Cedric encouraging words.

Harry finally broke the connection and, with Cedric's help, summoned the portkey cup while limping over to it. They both grabbed onto it and landed back in safety.

"It's Voldemort, he's back! He set a trap, he used my blood and regained a body!" Harry shouted to Dumbledore as he walked towards Cedric and Harry's limping figures.

"Alastor, take these two to the hospital wing immediately, they are in need of medical assistance, I shall investigate this more."

Dumbledore's words seemed to annoy Harry but Cedric elbowed Harry to keep his mouth shut with his good arm and mouthed 'Not now' to him. Professor Moody conjured stretchers for the disabled pair and with a flick of his wand he had them following him into the castle.

- Read and Review  
Serpent Tongue Sorceror


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you for bearing with me, after this chapter, the story truly begins.

Chapter 3: Rebirth Part 3

Although he may seem old, which he is, and senile, which is debatable, Albus Dumbledore was one of the sharpest minds in the wizarding world. He was known world wide for not being one to miss a trick, how could he? If he were easily fooled, Dumbledore would've fallen to a number of dark wizards who challenged him, most prominently, Gellert Grindelwald, and most recently, the dark lord Voldemort. No, he had an almost unparalleled ability for figuring out things purposefully hidden from him.

So then it was no wonder when while the first year students walked into the Great Hall, he was more focused on what wasn't there, or rather, what none could see. None but Dumbledore that is. There was a glint of magic following the nervous new students that he couldn't make out. Under the guise of an old man cleaning his glasses, Dumbledore placed a quick wandless revealing charm on his glasses.

He placed his half moon glasses back on the bridge of his rather large and crooked nose and pushed them to a comfortable place when he was done. He then peered back to roughly the same spot he saw the glint of magic and saw nothing.

Dumbledore sighed but showed no other outward sign of exasperation. It wouldn't be proper for one of his stature to let his people see anything less than the powerful, grandfatherly facade he had spent years cultivating. Especially the children, they would need a source of strength and stability in the dark times that were surely ahead when Voldemort finally revealed himself to the public. God forbid an old man be tired after a terribly unproductive and exhausting summer.

He sighed once again, an uncharacteristic move for the usually collected, if slightly loopy, headmaster and pushed away any bitter thoughts. The headmaster forced himself to smile at all the young children ready to be sorted and kept his eyes on Minerva as she called the first child to be sorte- there it goes again!

The glint of magic was back, but with his revealing charm, Dumbledore could see the human form but no features. Dumbledore silently praised the skill of the witch or wizard who evaded his revealing charm, but he wasn't known as the greatest wizard of the age for nothing. He, once again wandlessly, poured more magic into the charm on his glasses. Finally, the person behind the magic was visible.

He slipped into the Great Hall silently and invisibly behind the first year, contemplating why he felt this was a good idea for the umpteenth time. ' Relax, this is supposed to be fun,' he thought to himself, as he leaned against a wall, crossing his arms.

He looked up at Dumbledore, the old man twice as intelligent as any ravenclaw, three times as cunning as any slytherin, and infinitely more gutsy than any gryffindor. Except maybe Gryffindor himself, who was known for earning a sleeping dragon's ire, explaining the Hogwarts school motto.

Dumbledore's hufflepuff loyalty is unquestioned.

The old man was currently tapping into that slytherin cunning, casting a revealing charm on his glasses discreetly. Apparently, he had been spotted somehow so the headmaster was now trying to see who he was.

The newcomer raised an invisible eyebrow and moved over to another wall and leaned against it in the same pose. As Professor McGonagal the first of the new students to be sorted, Dumbledore's eyes fixed on to his location and even without his ability to sense magic, he would've known Dumbledore was improving his revealer and briefly considered fighting it.

'Nope,' he thought. 'Definitely not, I'd eventually lose anyway, there's no point. Besides, I'm not hiding from necessity, and I need to get a message to him anyway.' He shrugged as Dumbledore's eyes bulged slightly in surprise before becoming perfectly normal again. He then snapped and signaled for Dumbledore to look down at his plate.

Dumbledore felt confusion as he looked at shrugging person but mastered his expression before any but the keenest eye could see his surprise. When the no longer mysterious person pointed down, Dumbledore looked down at what he expected to be an empty plate and found a plate with a note on it. He quickly read the odd note before burning it as instructed.

The invisible person quickly moved over to a table and dropped a couple of notes in 2 people's hands before going back to his former position. He ignored Dumbledore's announcement but eventually heard, "...now let the feast commence. Go go gadget!" The headmaster's eccentricities came as no surprise to the returning students and teachers, and they certainly did not surprise the invisible figure leaning against a wall. As the food appeared, he had only one thought.

'Let the fun begin." He smirked before leaving in a blur of invisible color.

"So Harry, you haven't told us how your summer has been," Hermione Granger said to her best friend of four years. And it was true. Harry Potter hadn't been very forthcoming with details of his summer to his two best friends. His other best friend Ron Weasley came to his defense as the food appeared on their plates, "Yeah Hermione, don't pester the man. It's time to eat. Maybe Harry's just tired and doesn't feel like answering your questions right now." He winked at Harry and Harry grinned back, noticing Ron's ploy of riling Hermione up working rather quickly.

Harry sighed as his best friends began to bicker again, although on Ron's side it was more for his entertainment. Over the past year and summer, Ron had discovered that he had a crush on Hermione.

Now, normally, Ron would have been too thick to notice his crush, and even if he did, he would have been to hard headed to admit it even to himself, but Ron had grown up considerably over the summer. It seems Mrs. Weasley was not happy with Ron's academic performance so she sent him to a junior ward breaker boot camp in Egypt that was being ran that year by his older brother Bill. But unlike the breeze Ron was expecting, Bill was even harsher on his brother than the other students. This was partially because of the reason he was there, and also in part because he knew of the talent that lay in his little brother, untapped because Ron was too lazy to explore it. Instead of growing bitter towards his brother, Ron showed strength of character by flourishing under the harsh expectations and difficult work.

As Ron dove head first into his hard work, which required him to read a lot of books, he thought of his bushy haired best friend. He frequently asked himself, did she felt the same satisfaction in her reading that he did when he finally cracked a ward, or set up a full ward scheme? His thoughts on her wandered and he found himself thinking about everything he liked about her, from her satisfied smile when she found what she was looking for to her incredible temper which seemed especially volatile with him.

So while Ron and Hermione argued, Harry thought about the conversation he and Ron had on the train while Hermione and Neville did their prefect rounds. Ron planned on asking Hermione to be his girl friend today when they reached the common room. In his head, she would say yes and they would have their happily ever after. Harry didn't think it would run so smoothly. Sure, she could say yes, but only time would tell if their relationship would last, certainly not Ron's romanticized fantasies.

Harry spent his time eating and politely conversing with his fellow 5th year Neville Longbottom, not up to dealing with the mobs of people attempting to gain his attention so he put a weak notice me not charm on them. Honestly, he was a good guy and Harry felt it was a shame he wasn't better friends with Neville.

When the meal ended, Hermione asked Neville if he could lead the first years to the dorms and the shy boy uncharacteristically shy boy took charge after some reassurance that he could do it. Hermione, Ron and Harry faced each other.

"Did you get a note too?" They simultaneously asked each other the same question. "What do you think it's about?" Hermione asked, as usual, the first to recover. Ron shrugged, completely out of his depth and completely unwilling to over think what he didn't understand. Harry, on the other hand, looked down, the picture of contemplation, before he finally looked at Hermione and said, "I don't know, but not much goes on in Hogwarts without Dumbledore's approval, so I assume we're safe. Still, wands out when we walk into the room. Who knows how bold Voldemort might be feeling, especially since the Ministry will try to deny his involvement." Hermione and Ron nodded in agreement.

The trip to the seventh floor corridor with the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy and his dancing trolls did not take very long since Harry knew some short cuts. They also passed the time by talking about the speech given by the new defense teacher, Dolores Umbridge. She was a short, dumpy witch that closely resembled a toad. Hermione and Harry stated their beliefs that the ministry was trying to influence Hogwarts, while Ron, even with his new found maturity, had no inclination for the subtleties of political maneuvering. He also didn't listen to the speech, being too preoccupied waiting for the food.

As the trio approached the portrait, Ron and Hermione looked to Harry, who was the only one of them with prior knowledge of the room. He knew what they expected of him, so he walked across the portrait 3 times, with a contemplative facial expression.

"Harry," Hermione started, "Harry, Hogwarts is a magical castle. Maybe the room has moved-" "Hermione, look, aren't you paying attention?" Ron interrupted her, pointing to where the portrait appeared to be morphing into a different shape.

By the time Harry was done pacing, gone was the portrait of Barnabas and his tutu wearing trolls, and in it's place was a formidable wooden door. Harry glanced back at Ron and Hermione before opening the door and walking in. They quickly followed his lead and entered this new room.

The trio found themselves in a comfortable looking room that resembled the gryffindor common room with a pleasantly lit fireplace and two parallel, well cushioned love seats that led to one more luxurious seat. The slightly majestic appearing recliner was faced away from the new comers. Harry's face gained the look of someone on a mission as it walked towards the recliner. He kept his pace steady and clearly had no intention of stopping.

"Harry, mate, maybe you shouldn't walk into the seat. I think it would be a better idea to turn it around... first..." Ron broke off as he saw something that should not have been possible. Harry had walked through the chair, despite appearing completely solid, and disappeared. Ron opened his mouth as if to speak again when he was interrupted by a familiar voice to his right. "Do remain calm Mr. Weasley, I'm sure there is a completely rational explanation as to why Mr. Potter just walked through a solid object as if it was not there."

In the couch to their right, they found Headmaster Dumbledore, cool as a cucumber, his eyes having their customary sparkle. He chuckled at Ron and Hermione's surprised expressions before continuing, "Isn't that right Mr. Potter?"

As the recliner spun slowly towards them, they saw Harry Potter looking bored, if slightly annoyed. He responded, "Professor, since I've started Hogwarts, you've held no qualms with calling me by my given name. I see no reason to discontinue the trend, formality is rather bothersome."

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes brightened at this proclamation, but he showed no other outward reaction to Harry's reassurance. "Ahh, but this is, if you'll excuse an old man's arrogance, the first time we've met as equals. It would be considered rude to be so presumptuous under these circumstances. My apologies, and feel free to return the same courtesy."

Harry looked up as if in deep thought. "Albus? It is pretty weird, but I guess I'll get used to it eventually. Still, we can't get to the reason for this meeting until our last two guests arrive."

He spotted Ron's hand nearing his pocket where his hand resided. "Two more guests?"

Harry nodded to Ron approvingly before speaking. "Yes, we have two more expected arrivals. Good thinking, it's always good to be on guard when facing an unknown. But hopefully, we can all leave friends and that won't be needed. Ron, Hermione, please do sit down, just watching you stand for so long is making my feet hurt." Hermione smiled at the joke before sitting on the seat opposite Dumbledore. Ron followed suit, but a little more cautiously, with a casual glance between the door and Harry as he sat.

After a tense silence that lasted only until Harry, Ron and Hermione burst out laughing (Ah to be young, Dumbledore thought), the Golden Trio of gryffindor got into a reminiscent conversation as Dumbledore watched some of the finest students to pass through Hogwart's hallowed halls. The delightful talk immediately ended as the door to the room of requirement opened to reveal the people Harry was waiting for.

Ron was looking at Harry in confusion as Hermione immediately stood on her feet and pointed her wand at the entering slytherins. Before she could fire even one spell, the newcomers put their hands in the air and one of them spoke, "We come in peace, down Granger." Blaise Zabini's sarcastic drawl induced a smirk from Harry.

"Blaise, Daphne, always a pleasure," Harry said pleasantly. Daphne winked at Harry unnoticed by Hermione before saying, "Of course it is dear, now can you get your pet beaver? She's upsetting me."

This time Ron and Hermione raised their wands, until they heard Harry's light laughter. At Hermione's slightly hurt expression, Harry explained, "Sorry guys, I probably should have warned you. That's just the way she jokes around. Play nice Daphne." Blaise silently smirked at the exchange, but did not contribute.

Daphne adopted a mockingly contrite facial expression and said, "Whatever you say Lord Potter." This actually drew a snort from her fellow slytherin. Harry remained playful as he responded, "Now Daphne, you know you don't have to call me that among friends." Daphne falsely giggled before asking, "Oh so you only like it when I call you my lord in the bedroom?"

Harry merely looked amusedly to Headmaster Dumbledore in response who, in Daphne's defense, had been rather quiet. Daphne blushed, to which Dumbledore said, "Please do excuse me, an old man's senses have a habit of dulling at the most inopportune moments. I don't believe I've heard very much of what I'm sure was a charming conversation."

Hermione and Ron had quickly decided their safest option was to sit back down. These slytherins couldn't possibly be death eaters if Harry had befriended them.

Harry's demeanor quickly shifted from joking to business-like. He began, "Now, for the reason we have all gathered-" "Finally Potter, I was about to request a bed and an alarm for whenever you decided to start," Ron quipped. Daphne and Blaise looked at Ron approvingly from their seats across from Harry.

"Fair enough," Harry started again, "But don't interrupt me again. Now as I was saying, the reason we are all here. I'm sure that half of us were wondering what kept me from visiting number four Grimmauld this summer. The other half are here to tell you the thrilling story of Harry Potter's once again not normal summer."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry about the wait, I've been having major computer problems lately. I need to get a flash drive soon so I can update somewhere else if necessary. I'll try to keep my chapters posted with some regularity, but I think once every ten days is a pretty fair time period. I'll try to stick to it for anyone following CMC.

Now onto chapter 4 of Crimson Moon Child.

Chapter 4: The Retelling: Introductions

Harry's announcement was processed differently by the people in the room. Albus remained comfortably seated but his eyes shone with the possibility of learning the details of the summer of the boy who lived. Hermione and Ron reacted almost identically, leaning forward in their seats in anticipation of Harry's news. Daphne's posture hadn't changed much but the slight lean in Harry's direction told a different story to her attempted stoicism. Blaise also feigned disinterest, but his act was by far the most believable.

Harry grinned at Daphne. "Why so curious Greengrass? You were by far the person I saw the most over the summer." Daphne rolled her eyes at his exaggeration before replying, "Potter, randomly popping up my room, which is in a pureblood manor with all kinds of blood wards, definitely raises more questions than it answers."

Her statement seemed to raise some questions in Hermione, but as she opened her mouth to speak, she was interrupted by Dumbledore's highly amused voice. "Ms. Granger, surely your renowned curiosity can wait until Harry tells what I'm sure is a thrilling tale?"

Harry nodded to Dumbledore as Hermione blushed. "Of course, could it be a Harry Potter adventure without enough thrills to last a life time?"

As Harry finished his sentence, popcorn and other various treats appeared on a table that also appeared right in the center of their seating formation. The room's occupants looked to Ron. He sputtered indignantly, "Hey, I'm a growing boy, it's perfectly normal to have an appetite, it's you lot that's weird. Who's ever heard of a long story without snacks?" Blaise raised a brow at this statement and picked up a chocolate frog, since he wasn't all that fond of anything else on the table. Dumbledore chose a rather full looking brown paper bag. He put his hand in and pulled out a lemon drop. The girls sighed and said typical before reaching forward for snacks of their own. Harry shook his head at the antics of his friends.

"Right well, the summer started off normal enough, Dursleys came to pick me up and bring me to Privet Drive..."

* * *

It was the beginning of Harry's summer and nothing seemed too different. Uncle Vernon was changing colors as usual, looking into the rear view mirror suspiciously, most likely checking if Harry was doing anything he deemed 'freakish'. Aunt Petunia tried to pretend that everything was completely normal, so naturally, her act completely failed and she was tense and looked set to be tense for the rest of the ride home. The one major difference was Dudley, sitting next to him, was looking at him with something that resembled curiosity. But surely the great pig was incapable of such complex thought? Harry shook his head and continued to read his magical theory book cleverly disguised by magic into a muggle book that Harry had already read, Sun Tzu's "The Art of War".

The book was truly quite fascinating. The author described complex magics known as legilimency and occlumency, their purpose, and broke them down into simple steps. Harry had chosen this book because it did not involve a wand, and the two practices followed the trend.

Legilimency, he read, is a difficult mental practice that involved breaking into another's thoughts, conscious or not. It could be explained to a simpler person as mind reading, but over the year, Harry had grown closer to his inner intellectual. He could understand the subtleties entailed in perusing one's memories and experiencing their experiences as opposed to the crude interpretation of reading someone's mind, and the insinuation that the human mind could be as simple as a book.

Occlumency is legilimency's counterpart. Occlumency was a lot easier than legilimency because one needed only the barest understanding of a human mind to know that it should be protected from intrusion, which is what occlumency was. Although it was listed as legilimency's opposite, occlumency was useful for so much more, such as deflecting mind altering spells or thwarting attempted possessions.

Regardless, it was not the mind arts that, although fascinating, had so enthralled Harry. It was the end result of mastering the pair that appealed to him.

According to the book, once you mastered legilimency and occlumency and truly became the master of your mind, you could go into a meditative state to achieve what was widely thought impossible. The book postulated that it was possible to find your magical core with a combination of both disciplines. The possibilities, thought Harry to himself. He had found a way to practice magic away from school, and if not, then at least he had an entertaining summer project.

As Harry read up on occlumency, an ideal place to start since defense against legilimens was essential with Harry's number of enemies, the Dursleys alternated between watching Harry and ignoring him at all costs. Finally, they arrived at number four Privet Drive and Harry carried his things inside with considerably less strain than usual, courtesy of his new body mass.

Beyond his already impressive changes over the previous summer, Harry had grown more during the school year. The results of training to survive life or death situations left Harry with muscles he never knew he had. Of course, he was still thin, but he definitely filled out his clothes much better.

Harry was walking around the house with his book in hand, completely devoted to his reading when he felt something hard connect with his face. He was knocked into a wall and began to see spots before collapsing. As he fell, he saw two large hands grab him by the shirt to lift him up before he finally passed out.

* * *

When Harry woke up, he was tied to a chair facing the Dursleys who sat on their couch. Vernon looked at him like the cat that caught the canary, Dudley looked conflicted, and Petunia tried for an uncaring countenance but her guilt bled through her attempted indifference. Vernon smiled nastily before speaking, "I don't know what freakish steroids they give you at that freak school, but obviously it didn't help too much against a sneak attack, did it boy?" As bad as the situation seemed, Harry had found himself in worse. It was hard to be anything more than amused at Vernon's prematurely triumphant expression.

"And don't bother going for your little freak stick either, I've got it right here," Vernon said, spitefully holding out two pieces of Harry's holly wand. The room temperature dropped slightly as his magic made his displeasure known. "Not so talkative now are you? You little freak. I knew we should have dumped you in a dumpster when we got you, so you wouldn't be a burden on decent folk like us. Now I'm going to correct that mistake." Vernon once again smiled, and Harry absently noted that this was the most that the bastard child of a whale ever smiled around him.

Vernon's rant, which was mercifully short, was limited to telling Harry what was going to happen next. Harry wasn't paying as much attention as he probably should and was instead thinking how strange Vernon's behavior was. He tended to be incredibly boastful and getting rid of 'the freak' was something he was definitely given the way he puffed out his chest as he spoke. When Harry began to pay attention again, Vernon's words most certainly not encouraging. "... and now I'm going to teach you a lesson, you little freak!"

This immediately put Harry on edge. He looked around the living room for anything that could be a danger and completely missed Vernon's first blow. Harry was reeling in shock, his uncle hadn't been physically violent with him since his first Hogwarts letter. It appeared he wasn't done because as Harry watched Aunt Petunia and Dudley come down the stairs with their belongings, Harry felt the impact of Vernon's fist again. As Vernon rained blows on him, he could somehow think coherently, and feel the anger at this injustice growing.

Unfortunately for Vernon, it seemed he did not notice the rage building on his nephew's face. Despite that rage, it seemed the situation was truly helpless for Harry. His wand was broken, his hands tied behind his back and he still had a massive headache that impeded his thought processes.

Slowly, anger was replaced by realization and fear. It had finally struck Harry that he could and would die here if nothing was done. His thoughts became a confused mess as he tried to figure out what he could do with renewed vigor. He began to panic when his mind was coming up blank.

Vernon chuckled as he headed towards his family after spending a fair amount of time pounding on Harry.

"And stay there you freak! You'll never darken our doorstep again, that's for sure," Vernon spat spitefully. The Dursleys walked through the door of number four Privet Drive for the last time.

Harry tried to speak, to say a spell or anything, but all he got for his efforts was incredible pain from his tongue, which he couldn't remember biting. In his panic, he released his pent up frustration and panic in his situation in an inhuman roar of fright mixed with a promise of pain.

The very foundations of the house seemed to weaken before the power imbued into Harry's scream. It was as if the turmoil in his thoughts shouted a command to it's surroundings with the objective of causing as much chaos as possible. Harry's fear was manifested into a fearful demolition of number four Privet Drive.

Although it seemed all hell was breaking loose on the inside, the outside of the Dursley home seemed perfectly normal. The imbalances that warped the interior simply held no influence on the outside. As everything within was destroyed, including the house's support system, the outside was perfectly normal. The lawn was neatly trimmed, the paint was still nicely done, Petunia's garden was looking lovely as ever making the Dursley residence rather picturesque.

Now, in a more convenient world, this may have even been true, but unfortunately, in reality, everything that could go wrong had the tendency of doing just that. The Dursleys, who prided themselves on normalcy, had a wreck of a home, with large sections of the roof collapsing and the walls caving in. A very abnormal red aura of raw magic engulfed the house like a raging flame, but it seemed to be eroding the walls faster than any fire. It soon began to circle number four like a tornado but the magic was seemingly being absorbed by something in the house. All of these unnatural happenings were completely beyond any spectators as people seemed to merely look past the home.

Inside the house were only 4 occupants, 3 of which were forever stilled. The fourth seemed to be fighting not to join them. He struggled against his constraints but his efforts seemed to be futile.

'I can't die here, I can't!' Harry Potter screamed in his mind. A rather large chunk of roof managed to find it's way to the young wizard's already battered body. He attempted to reach for his wand with his hands tied but he couldn't seem to get to his uncle's corpse. His consciousness was fading quickly as he stilled his mind and attempted to get his wand with wandless magic, but it seemed he would fail.

Still, despite his current condition, Harry couldn't help a snort. 'The boy who lived, conqueror of Lord Voldemort, done in by his muggle relatives and some accidental magic. Still, it fits, Voldemort died by my accidental magic, why shouldn't I?' And with that final thought, the abyss he was fighting engulfed all his senses. The last thing he could remember was a face with a shoulder length curtain of fiery red hair and a pair of emerald green eyes.

* * *

"And what do you suggest we do? The boy is going to have some of that stupid order on his trail within seconds!"

"Calm, my friend, you know as well as I do that if we don't want to be found, we won't be. After all, we've managed this long, haven't we?"

"So you want us to take the kid with us? Are you crazy? I'm a hitman, killer for hire, a master of ending lives, not a bloody baby sitter!"

"I tire of your foolish shouting. Keep your ignorance restrained, for it is better to be silent and thought a fool than to give credence to such a thought by the simple act of uttering a single word."

Two tall imposing figures stood in front of Harry, both still being blurry since Harry had only just woken up. The taller one spoke well mannered whereas the slightly shorter and wider man seemed to have long since lost the patience for manners. The wider man glared venomously at the taller man while the taller man had an expression of infinite patience adorning his face, with a slight hint of annoyance.

"Enough ladies, my head's already messed up from that fucking explosion. Damn Potter, think Africa felt it?" Harry opened his eyes all the way as his false sleeping ploy was revealed by a third voice that joined the arguing pair. He sat up and surveyed his surroundings, finding himself on a couch in what seemed to be the living room of a reasonably large flat. Harry saw the bodies that went with the two earlier voices. The temperamental one was muscular, about 6'1 in height, with a sharp, angled face with a pair of murky brown eyes. He had on a black v-neck t shirt with small scars on his muscular arms and tight jeans that covered obviously muscular legs.

On the other hand, his companion wore a white silk button up shirt tucked into black slacks. His build was more lithe, where his companion had a large, bulky form, this man had smaller yet not quite small muscles that subtly hinted toward his own respectable strength even though it was spread across a 6'3 body. His face was also quite angular but he had unnaturally pale blue eyes. Both of these men had very pale skin not too unlike Harry's own and neat black hair, although the taller one had hair down to his mid back while the other preferred his own short hair.

The newcomer had shoulder length crimson hair that appeared to have a slight glow. He had green eyes that closely resembled Harry's, softer facial features than the others in the room and a jagged scar on his eyelid. He appeared younger than the other two but his experienced guarded expression belied his apparent age. He looked very young, actually, he didn't look too much older than Harry himself but his aura of power commanded respect, even from his elders. He wore ripped jeans, not from damage, but that was just the style he bought his jeans in, and a tight white t shirt with a fitted gray hoodie over it.

Harry continued to observe quietly, looking for anything that may give him an advantage should he have to escape while attempting to sit up casually. "I guess introductions are in order," said the taller stranger, "seeing as how we know you yet you know so little of us. The red haired youth before you is named Lysander, and he's a wizard not unlike yourself. The... gentleman... for lack of better words, beside me is named Matthew. I am known as Michael, and I have quite a tale to tell you, but first Lysander would like to speak with you."

Matthew gave Michael a dirty look and opened his mouth to say something but immediately ceased when Lysander looked sharply in his direction.

Harry noted how the much larger men deferred to Lysander who was only about 5'9 then turned to hear what he had to say. "Moving on now..." Lysander rolled his eyes and continued, ", we know your story, relatives suck, parents died, in mortal peril from a dark lord and a prophecy, all of that good stuff. What we would like to propose is training. You've been woefully under prepared for as long as you can remember and I'd like to remedy that. So would those two."

Seems too good to be true, Harry thought, what kind of catch is there to this? Wait a minute, "Prophecy?" he asked, "What do you mean by prophecy?" Harry had a gut feeling as to what would be asked of him by fate, but he needed to hear it.

Lysander's brow once again raised elegantly. "So you haven't heard it yet? Weird. I don't know any specifics but the gist is that in the end, it will be you versus Voldemort. It doesn't look too good on your side, but we're here to even the odds. You don't have the kind of time to match Voldemort self taught. I am somewhat disappointed, is this the extent of the vigilance that kept the boy-who's-still-not-dead alive?"

Harry actually laughed at that. "Well if you wanted me dead, you could have just left me to die at the Dursleys. And if there's one thing I've learned it's that what doesn't kill me-""-makes you stronger. From one man with enemies to another, I can appreciate that." Matthew interrupted, then waved his hand for Harry to continue. "But since you bring it up, I guess I'll ask. What are your motivations for helping me?"

It was Lysander's turn to laugh. "Well I happen to stand to gain a lot from your win, I bet Michael here that I could get you to beat Voldemort before the end of your seventh year, so work hard kid, and don't lose me my 50 galleons. On a more serious note, I am personally invested in your triumph over the dark lord." Harry's face remained impassive as he replied, "Oh really? How so?"

Harry's response made all three men smirk for some reason. Suddenly, Harry could feel a presence behind him. He stood quickly, spun and swung at the person he felt behind him. The person caught his fist and suddenly Harry's nose was assailed with the smell an incredible perfume.

"Now Harry, is that how you treat your hosts?" She grinned as she spoke, her eyes dancing in happiness.

Rushing to his feet seemed to get to Harry as he quickly dropped back into his seat. He murmured under his breath a few times before Michael walked over with a concerned expression. "What is wrong child?"

Michael barely finished speaking when Harry almost shouted hysterically, "This has got to be some kind of joke!" He grabbed Michael by the shirt collar and pushed him against the nearest wall.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry about the wait, between writer's block, my computer messing up, getting a job and getting hit by a car, I haven't really been able to access my computer with my files saved on it. I should be good now so you can expect more frequent updates. Again, sorry about taking so long without updating.

To address a question asked by Saeadame, there will be a couple of pairings throughout the story. If you want to know who Harry will end up with in the end, then I haven't decided yet. If you want then you can make suggestions and if you have a good case I might go with what you would like.

Chapter 5: The Retelling: Training

In the heat of the moment, certain details seem to slip one's notice. A lot of the times, these details are trivial, completely useless in the long run. Unfortunately for Harry Potter, this was not one of those times.

In his rush to pin Michael, Harry had completely forgotten about the other two men in the room and the woman who him caused such panic. As a result, Harry was caught by surprise by the tip of a wand uncomfortably placed to his temple.

"Calm down Harry, maintain your composure. All will be explained in time," said Michael, completely calm despite the obviously aggressive intention towards him. He nodded his head to someone behind Harry and Harry felt the wand that was digging into the side of his head be lowered until he could feel it no longer. Harry heard Matthew's voice speaking right in his ear, "Keep your head, boy. I would hate to have to hurt you." His words oozed with mocking sincerity.

The woman's mood remained unperturbed as she seemed to evaluate Harry. "How is this even possible," Harry started, "if she died? I was there watching in case you didn't know!" He glared at Lysander, who seemed to be the one with all the answers.

Lysander responded with a comforting hand on the shoulder. "Maybe you should sit down. This is a long story, but rest assured, this is your mother."

Harry walked over to the couch and sat down calmly. Michael seemed amused while Matthew attempted to conceal his surprise. The woman who looked exactly like Harry's mother let out a musical laugh. "Lysander, what have I told you about relaxing charms? It's already going to be hard for Harry to trust us, don't make it any harder than it has to be." Lysander rolled his eyes. "Whatever Lily."

The calm that came with Lysander's relaxing charm was quickly dissipating and Harry's fury coming back stronger than before. Things began to rattle on their shelves and fall. Harry's eyes began to glow slightly and his hair began reddening as he said, " Can someone explain what the hell is going on here?" This time, Matthew ran over to Harry but he knocked him back onto his seat. Everything momentarily stopped shaking. Harry looked furious and close to resuming his previous wild state but the clone of his mother stepped in front of him and pointed her hand at him. Harry looked around confusedly until 'Lily' was satisfied with her work. Before she could step away, he grabbed the front of her shirt and pointed his wand at her head. "You wouldn't hurt me," she said, and when he looked ready to interrupt, she continued, " Maybe you would want to, but you can't since I just sealed 99% of your magic. Now, we're going to explain exactly what you're seeing here then you can ask as many questions as you want, are we clear?" She held his cheek as she spoke.

Harry glared at his mother's impersonator, wishing her nothing but harm for pretending to be his deceased mother. Still, he replied in an even voice, "I'm listening."

What followed was one of the most mind numbing stories Harry had ever heard. From everything that was hidden from the world, to the casual disregard of any semblance of laws of magic, Harry was sure the story was true in that no one could bull shit so completely with a straight face.

"So let me get this straight," Harry started, "You're Lysander Evans? Twin brother of Lily Evans, my mother, and my uncle. And you, mum, are alive? Do you take me for some kind of idiot? Dead people don't come back to life!" Lysander looked amused but Lily had a knowing expression on her face. Harry knew that she knew he believed them already. It was just easier to be angry and yell rather than rationalize.

Lysander spoke with what he must have thought was incredible patience. "Lily was never dead, since I got to your house before Voldemort could kill her. I faked her death, but it was already too late for your father. I liked James."

Time passed as Harry appeared to try to absorb all this new information. It was good to know his mother was still alive. It was also good to know that according to what he had just been told, someone qualified was training him to defend himself. "So," Harry spoke slowly, "you've dueled with Voldemort then? I mean when you were younger, and Snape too at the same time? Are you going to be teaching me what you used against them?"

Lysander replied, "That was nothing, I've trained so much that dueling against them now would be a completely different story." This launched a discussion between all the occupants in the room as to what Harry would be covering over this summer since they were working with serious time restraints.

* * *

"When one paces like a caged animal in one's own home, there is normally a problem. Spill Greengrass, what's bothering you?" Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass' best friend and the only boy the Greengrass family trusted with their daughter in her room, asked concernedly.

Daphne stopped pacing and looked out of her window before turning to meet her friend's eyes. She sighed softly and spoke, "It's so boring here. Already, a month has passed and there's been nothing of any sort of significance happening. It's always the same here at home. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but at least at Hogwarts, there's never a dull moment, especially with Potter causing all kinds of trouble."

Before they could even ponder her statement, the subject of Daphne's thoughts appeared right before her eyes looking as though he actually belonged sitting at the foot of her bed.

Harry stretched himself out on the bed underneath him. "Wow," he remarked casually, "you purebloods really outdo yourselves when it comes to comforts."

The color in Blaise's face drained as gryffindor's golden boy appeared in his friend's bedroom. Daphne, on the other hand, was shocked but took Harry's sudden appearance as well as could be expected.

"You scared me Potter. What the hell are you doing in my room?" Harry examined the ceiling while Daphne slung questions such as how he got in and other such seemingly unimportant issues. He then gave her a 'silence mere mortal' look, which quieted her before he spoke again in a jovial tone, "I thought you would be glad to see me. What's wrong, you don't miss me Greengrass?"

Blaise seemed to slowly regain his bearings and as his situational awareness increased, so did his outrage at the current situation. His temper rose while Harry and Daphne spoke until he finally shouted, "What the hell are you doing her Potter?-" and that was as far as he got before in a motion no one saw, Harry appeared behind Blaise covering his mouth with his hand. Harry smirked and said, "It seems like someone missed some 'how to be a slytherin' lessons."

"There are silencing charms around my room. My parents put them up when Blaise started coming over. When we were younger we used to make a lot of noises, not like that you perv, kid stuff. You know, yelling, falling, breaking things," explained Daphne. Harry smiled bitterly thinking of his own childhood, then replied, "If you say so. But I can sense the wards, or rather, the lack of silence wards. Someone really needs to revise those slytherin lessons, they clearly suck."

Daphne thought about that. Some of her more secret secrets were shared with Blaise in this room, her sanctuary. It was very much a part of her, what was left of her when she went off to Hogwarts. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'I did make sure my parents weren't home during most of it.'

Daphne's musing was quickly cut short by Harry, who seemed to finally get to the point of his visit. "Honestly, I could've been anywhere in the world, but I'm here with you right now because I figured I should go somewhere I wouldn't get hexed on sight. I'm learning some things Daph, and clearly its working if I can break into a pureblood manor. Plus, it's good to see you again."

Her eyes gleamed with the prospect of knowledge that would allow her entry anywhere. "Where are you learning this from? Can you share?"

Harry's reticence was immediately displayed on his face. Daphne knew the answer before he opened his mouth to say, "I can't tell you that. Not yet anyway." Daphne's ire was also quick to show it's face. "So you don't trust me?"

Blaise was confused by Potters' appearance in his best friend's room. As far as he knew, they had only met when they agreed to go to the Yule Ball and that was the extent of their knowledge of their familiarity. "Daphne," Blaise began, "I shall return when you're not so... preoccupied."

Blaise left the room and the manor by floo while Harry and Daphne continued their visit for another hour or so.

Over the time spent training in his uncle's home, Harry, Lysander and Lily grew much closer. Their relationships weren't the typical mother/son or uncle/son relationships, as Harry had lived his life without an adequate parental figure and had grown well despite this. Their open camaraderie resembled roommates instead with an intimacy exclusive to complete strangers that find themselves living together.

Training was a relaxed issue normally, with Harry being taught some evasion, defensive and detection spells and a giant game of hide and seek using only spells Harry had learned already in order to teach Harry to apply the spells. He also had an incredibly comprehensive library at his disposal to help him pursue his interests. Michael and Matthew, the vampires, were absent through this, and although initially Harry thought on it too much, it eventually faded.

One day, Harry woke up early and went to the library to study and practice some spells when a siren went off and all the lights shut off. He calmly centered himself and used a wandless detection spell that he was particularly adept with using and found many strange presences in the room that was empty not even five seconds ago. He then used a night vision spell but he didn't need it to see the green beam of oppressive energy characteristic of the killing curse rapidly closing in on him.

Harry ducked immediately and quickly disillusioned himself. A quick reducto to the bottom of the closest bookshelf caused it to drop on and crush three of the strangers attacking him. The other ten quickly caught on and tried not to use the bookshelves as cover.

He was on the move quickly, never staying in one spot which would normally make the disillusionment charm unreliable but since it was so dark, Harry was as close to invisibility as possible. Once he got a closer look at the people attacking him, he realized these were death eaters. The black cloaks and masks gave it away. Keeping his distance, Harry fired as many hexes and jinxes as he could from different locations all over the room. He took advantage of the death eater's fear of using the bookshelves as cover and was using them himself.

It didn't take long for them to catch on and they started lighting the bookshelves on fire then collapsing them hoping to catch Harry with them. One of the death eaters held his wand in the air and shouted, "Lumos Solaris," quickly illuminating the library in the hopes of catching Harry off guard with the bright light. It was a good plan, the death eater masks were designed with defenses to excessively bright lights for situations like this.

They heard a groan coming from the floor and looked down to find Harry shielding his eyes from the painful brightness that was burning his eyes.

"Finally," one of them said with a sigh. He pointed his wand at the fallen teenager and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" What he didn't see was the smirk on Potter's face as he was struck by the green killing curse and blinked out of existence.

The death eater looked around confusedly and opened his mouth to speak when suddenly the mirror behind him shattered. He quickly turned and found Harry Potter staring at him with those lethal green eyes and a smirk on his face. His shirt was torn and his torso was bloody, implying that he probably didn't get a shield up in time when the bookshelves were burned down.

"Gladius."

That was the last word ever heard by the death eater who struck a clearly fake Potter with the killing curse. A glowing beam of light resembling a sword grew from Harry's wand and cleanly split through the death eater's head. It retracted and fell at his side like a whip. The other death eaters realized what happened and quickly returned to their attack on Potter with renewed energy. Completely abandoning his stealth tactics of earlier in the battle, Harry dodged, shielded and slashed away, attacking his enemies with the vigor of a man possessed.

Soon after the open warfare began, it was clear that the death eaters couldn't stand up to Harry's newly acquired might. One by one they fell until there were none left.

Harry looked around and assessed the damage caused by the magical fight. When he saw there were no enemies left, he fell to his hands and knees and began coughing blood. His body was shaking in exhaustion from exertion, physical injuries and from the enormous depletion of magic from his Gladius spell.

"What the hell?"

Harry's scar erupted in pain but he quickly recovered and began to focus on his mental defenses. When he was once again coherent, he heard footsteps behind him and turned to see who it was.

6'5, thin, unnaturally pale, and resembling a snake, Voldemort left quite an impression on one's mind. "Harry Potter," he began, "I made a grave error in underestimating you the last time we met. You are rather powerful in your own right, and I would request you join me as I am curious as to what would become of you, but unfortunately, I am quite familiar with your stubborn nature. Die Potter."

The air suddenly became much harder to breath as raw magic emanated from the self proclaimed Lord Voldemort. With his malevolent features amplified by his angry sneer and oppressive aura of power, there was truly a reason this man was to be feared. But Harry still had some fight left in him. He stood shakily, still shaky and having trouble regulating his breathing from Voldemort's magic. As quickly as he dared, he raised his wand and began readying his magic for one final attack. He could feel it, this would be it for him.

"Gladius Ultim!"

He screamed his lungs out calling on the final form of the spell he used on the death eaters. Magic began coming off of Harry in waves as another, much less ethereal sword appeared at the end of Harry's wand, growing to close the distance between Harry and Voldemort. It grew long enough to almost touch Voldemort's chest then shrank down, condensing itself, until it was a much more manageable length. The sword also appeared much more solid now.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Voldemort seemed to panic at his nemesis' new powerful spell. He did the first thing that came to mind and shot out a killing curse at Harry. Harry disappeared from the spot he previously occupied and reappeared behind Voldemort. He rushed to Voldemort with all the power he had left as Voldemort turned just in time to see Harry reach him. He did the first thing he could think of and pointed his wand to Harry's chest and shouted. Raw magic escaped from Voldemort's wand and impacted with Harry's chest just before Harry's sword could cut Voldemort, but with the amount of magic put into it, and the incompatible conflicting magics of the combatants, an explosion was caused that sent both Harry and Voldemort back into opposing walls.

Two cloaked figures entered the library and suddenly the lights were back on and the library was back in order as if such a large scale battle never occurred. Voldemort disappeared as well as all the damage. The only sign of anything wrong was the bloody mess named Harry Potter. The male figure lifted Harry over his shoulder and carried him out of the room.

When Harry awoke, he caught the remnants of a conversation between Lily and Lysander.

"... was I supposed to know that he would blow up like that? He's your son! What the hell happened to mother's intuition?"

"It was your damn test! You should've known better than to design something with even a pretend Voldemort! How the hell would you have reacted to Tom ** Riddle in your library!"

Harry held his head as they argued. Finally, when he couldn't take anymore, he spoke up.

"Guys! Do you mind? I've got a headache to end all headaches and my whole body is sore. Can you at least take it somewhere else?"

Both Lily and Lysander acknowledged the subject of their argument was awake with identical guilty expressions. But rather than leave, they decided to quit their argument.

They began to explain to Harry that yesterday was a test of two things. First was Harry's own magical combat prowess to date, and it was also a test of a new magical simulator system that Lysander developed to train Harry. They didn't actually expect Harry land a hit on Voldemort, and in a sense he didn't, but he went above and beyond their expectations. The point of this particular simulation was for Harry to evade and take down the death eaters slowly, but they had expected death eaters to be left when Voldemort came out to see Harry's reaction to fighting overwhelming odds. Clearly they didn't know about Harry's spell creation studies.

Since he was allowed access to the library, Harry looked up something that had always garnered his interest. From much painstaking research, Harry finally made his own spell, his own secret weapon when there were no roads left. The Gladius spell, initially thought of to imitate one of the katanas seen in the kung fu movies he had seen parts of when walking through the living room at the Dursleys when they were watching movies. It evolved because as he progressed in spell creation, he saw more complex yet flexible elements of a spell but he didn't want to start from scratch with a new spell, therefore, the different forms of Gladius.

Obviously, the spell was still very flawed, especially as far as magic efficiency goes. After using Gladius as much as he did, Harry would've suffered from magical exhaustion for a month, but Lily managed to shrink it down to a couple of hours. The problem with her method is that she needed to lock his magical core to roughly 30% so that the magical build up wouldn't accelerate too quickly and overload his magic. She would unlock by 10% biweekly to ensure a gradual build up back to normal levels and Harry was banned from using anything past first level Gladius until he fixed the kinks in his spell's magical drain.

Training continued as planned, as even with his decreased level of raw magical power, he was still slightly above the average wizard. Even so, it didn't take much power for the evasion or detecting spells they were teaching. The defensive spells, on the other hand, varied so there were spells that Harry could only cast weaker versions of. In the simulator, they kept the death eaters at the same level, but made sure not to throw Voldemort back in so that Harry wouldn't aggravate his healing magical core. One thing that the last attempt taught Harry was that he was not at all ready yet to take on Voldemort. The simulation could only go up to 90% of Voldemort's actual magic and of that 90%, the one Harry faced was only 50%.

And that is the way Harry Potter spent his summer. Another near death experience under his belt, visiting his slytherin friend Daphne Greengrass, survival training and discovering a large variety of magic, along with some rather surprising truths. His audience asked all the right questions, ooh'ed and ah'ed at all the right parts and before long, Harry's tale was finished.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: To bookworm19065, this whole chapter is a flashback which is why I decided not to use italics or something like that to separate flashbacks from things that are happening. Harry is telling his story of what he did during the summer. I definitely will keep your suggestion in my mind for future reference though, so thank you.

Finally, I have a computer and internet again! If only I knew my computer would crash, then I could've warned you about the long wait. Now I can hopefully update with more regularity, although I still do have a rather full plate, with me graduating soon, I see myself with more free time, at least in the summer. Read and Review please, let me know if I've lost complete track of my plot in my absence or if I'm on the right track.

Thank you for being patient with me, now let Crimson Moon Child Chapter 6 begin.

Chapter 6: Welcome to Year 5 at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Harry woke up in a comfortable four poster bed feeling entirely at home but for a little part of him that missed his uncle and mother's home. He thought back to yesterday after his meeting with his friends finished.

* * *

After the meeting, Harry sent another of his illusion clones with Hermione and Ron while he himself walked separately. Harry had grown to enjoy quiet solitude and was used to his family who knew exactly when Harry wanted to be alone. It's not that he didn't desire Ron and Hermione's company, he just preferred to walk alone at the moment.

'Family huh?' Harry thought as he walked with his hands in his pockets. 'I had no clue they had grown on me so fast.' And it was true. He had really already grown to love his mother and uncle, despite the high level of tension at first. 'Tension, sure, if that's what my mind wants to call it.'

The first few days with Lily and Lysander were full of loud arguments, physical fights, and any other sort of disputes until Harry began to accept that it was real. He really did have his mother back. Perhaps Lysander wasn't his father, that would be gross, but he did have an uncle too. Another change to accept was relatively simple, yet still difficult for Harry. They both wanted him. It was different to feel loved after so many years of abuse. Sure, the Weasleys are a family full of love, and they considered him part of the family, but it wasn't the same to having your own family.

Beyond the positive of the summer, there was also a big negative. His magic was incredibly unstable and only getting worse.

The week before Harry was due back in school, Lily was going to unlock more of Harry's magic when she noticed something wrong with his magical core. It turns out that there was a lot more work to be done with Gladius before it was ready for regular use. It appears Harry's magical core was torn by the chaotic magical drain of the incomplete spell. The magical core is not exactly a physical thing, but still it has boundaries that hold the magic in your body and it seemed these boundaries were breached during Harry's rather strenuous battle. Lily believed that the cause was the power regulation factor of the spell.

It seemed that although Harry was rather skilled at the creation of spells, Gladius was just a bit beyond his skill level and he made an error that he couldn't even detect, let alone fix, which upset him greatly. His mother refused to fix the spell saying it was his lesson to learn and banned him from using Gladius until he fixed his mistake.

Harry sighed in disappointment. Fortunately, he had learned how to regulate his power much better over fourth year and the summer so unnecessarily over powering his spells wouldn't be a problem but still, it was rather depressing to know you couldn't use your full magical ability without landing yourself in the hospital wing.

Harry's feet took him to his destination as if preprogrammed while his mind wandered to the moon and back. As he mentally debated the good and bad that had unfolded so far, he came to the conclusion that according to whatever mandate ruled his life, things were about to get much more exciting. Exciting in Harry's life almost always meant life threatening, but damaged magic or not, Harry would meet every challenge with his head held high.

* * *

Harry's focus on the night before was interrupted by a high velocity projectile catching his attention, and the side of his face.

"C'mon mate, even boys-who-live need a good breakfast," Ron said.

Harry shook his head to rid his mind of his pondering. Today is a new day after all, he thought, and there are new thoughts to be had such as revenge...

He snuck his wand from under his pillow, a habit he developed when his uncle (Lysander, not Vernon) took to attacking him at odd times, and made some discreet wand motions while wiping his eyes blearily. "Ron? That you mate?"

"Of course, c'mon, let's hurry up and get to breakfast before there isn't any left," responded the ever hungry Weasley. Harry smirked into his pillow as he ended the connection between his magic and the temporary enchantment he was weaving on the bathroom door. "Sure, but get cleaned up first, and let me know when you're done." Ron shook his head at his normally early bird friend and prepared to take his turn in the bathroom.

Harry allowed himself a silent chuckle as Ron entered the bathroom, and hearing the click of the door closing, he flipped around on his bed to get a better view of what would soon happen to Ron. After a while, Harry heard a distinctly girly scream from the bathroom and had to physically restrain himself from full blown laughter as he watched the door in anticipation.

"What the hell?" Ron shouted, a sharp contrast to his rather feminine squeal moments earlier. His voice was unnaturally deep as a matter of fact, and his repeated scream did nothing to help Harry but it did wake up their other room mates.

Neville looked around blearily, clearly not entirely awake. "Whozzat?" was the noise that escaped Neville but Harry thought he might have been asking who was screaming. Harry pointed in the direction of the bathroom still laughing.

Just as Harry pointed, out came Ron, in the normal male after shower attire of a towel wrapped around the waist. Dean, Seamus, and Neville looked up at Ron and couldn't help themselves. They were soon in the same state as Harry, laughing as their now 7 foot friend looked around angrily for the culprit of what was clearly a prank aimed at him. The dull look of concentration made his predicament even funnier to his friends.

"What the hell?" Ron yelled again, "I took a shower and I come out like... like this!"

It was clear what Ron was so unhappy about the instant he exited the bathroom. He now had a large pair of breasts on his chest that weren't there mere minutes ago. Also, there was the large red Viking-esque beard that may have upset him. Harry quickly waved his wand and with a couple quick swishes, Ron and a set of clothes were magically forced into the bathroom. By the time he came back out, everyone had just finished laughing and dressing. Seeing Ron incited a new bout of laughing that Ron attempted to diffuse by asking, "So you guys are getting dressed without taking a shower?"

Neville, Seamus, and Dean did not answer, but Harry said, "I used a full body cleansing and deodorizing charm I made, they're just dirty," then he walked out of the dorm still laughing at Ron although not nearly as obnoxiously. Ron sighed, "Well, better face everyone sooner than later," before he followed Harry downstairs to the common room.

* * *

Harry and Ron reached the Great Hall, after many laughs from other students, with plenty of time to eat. After breakfast, Harry finally had enough of his prank and cancelled it, much to Ron's relief, who took it with much more grace than expected, although any grace from a man with double d breasts was more than expected.

Time passed quickly in Hogwarts, as in a magical boarding school one does not become bored without extreme effort. There was quidditch, encounters with Malfoy, games of chess with Ron, and much of the studying and training that was shown through last year during the Triwizard Tournament but without the sense of urgency that no one seemed to notice until it was gone.

Harry's magical core was finally fully unbound as October passed into November. Thus, he continued his work on the Gladius spell, making weaker variations of the different forms and testing them in the Room of Requirement. He was making progress in control of the spell itself but it was hard to gauge the power management and potential damage to his core without using the spell, which he agreed was left for emergency scenarios only. All in all, Harry considered this a fairly normal school year at Hogwarts with one exception. The toad must die.

Umbridge had made it perfectly clear that she didn't like Harry and didn't agree with his stance on the Voldemort issue on various occasions. She seemed to enjoy provoking him, although the boy refused to respond. Umbridge began her first lesson insinuating Harry was a deluded liar and when he didn't rise to her bait, she had continued her verbal tirades against the boy hero to the point that people no longer saw reason in any of her words and now instead doubted her with her insane obsession with the boy who lived. In turn, the children's letters to their parents included more and more of their views of her questionable sanity and led to Fudges support slowly questioning him more, and slowly the sheep of the wizarding world were shown a new potential shepherd. They didn't notice this of course, as it was a very slow shift in influence, but when the Prophet had let up on Harry and Dumbledore it became clear that people were bored with Fudge's slander. It wasn't a quick change, as if you asked anyone on the street, Fudge was in the right, but it was enough for now.


End file.
